This is a blog on economics and politics from the perspective of a microeconomist of the Austrian school of thought who works in market research.

Monday, January 25, 2016

Trump: “When I’m president, I’m a different person” « Hot Air

Trump: “When I’m president, I’m a different person” « Hot Air: "Glenn Beck, a Cruz supporter, called that sentiment “dangerous” this weekend. Trump obviously meant it as a joke, an exaggerated statement of how loyal his fans are. But it’s striking even as a joke because it proves that not only is he aware of the cult of personality around him, he’s counting on it to increase his freedom of political movement — and that is a little dangerous. Try to imagine the reaction among Cruz fans if he went out onstage today in Iowa and promised he’d be a “different person” as president with forays into political correctness as circumstances require. They’d be mortified. If you like Cruz, you like him because of what he stands for and the fact that he’s not afraid to piss off the right people in doing so. The instant he ceases to fill that role, he’s disposable. What Trump’s telling you in these two quotes is that those rules don’t apply to him. Barring some truly core betrayal, like signing a new amnesty into law, he thinks he can count on his fans to follow him anywhere. And if he decides that he needs to dispense with the tone, or the policies, that he’s been pushing on the trail and become the most politically correct person you’ve ever seen as president, then he, in his wisdom, must have his reasons. (Relatedly, Obama cultists started off as anti-war and anti-drone and anti-“unitary executive” in 2008 and have been shrugging at Obama’s deviations from that line ever since.) The amazing thing about the “Fifth Avenue” quote is that it’s a joke at his own followers’ expense. A friend called it his “Lonesome Rhodes moment,” in which a populist hero ends up laughing at the devotion of his own fan base. "